In the world today there are many social variables that define our personal history and determine how we live our lives. Such variables include gender, “race”, class, and culture. Even though these variables are very important in determining a person’s background, there are many other variables that contribute to our personal background. Gender, “race”, culture, and class all help to determine our personal past and they also determine our future and the life we will live. In Gerda Lerner’s Why History Matters, Lerner tells her life story and the struggles she has with her own identity. Lerner describes being a Jewish woman from a middle class family from Austria where she develops her own personality through many different struggles and experiences. Lerner tells stories of her hardships of being a Jewish female and her ultimate defection from her own heritage. Lerner’s essay brings the reader into her own story, which allows the reader to identify with her and her own story. Throughout Lerner’s life these social variables played a major factor in the type of person she is now and her own personal background. This paper will describe how gender, “race”, class,

Class is another social variable that can determine a person’s personal background and how a person can shape and live his or her life. Class is usually defined as the socio-economic standing that a person or family has in society. Class usually has three distinct categories, lower class, middle class, and upper class with most people seeing themselves as being in the middle class category. Class does not always have to be based on the economic standing of a family. It can be based on other variables such as religion. When class is based on religion the number of people that share your same beliefs determines, which class a family will fall into with upper class being large numbers of people that believe in the same religion and lower class small numbers. Even though Lerner does come from an economically middle class background she does encounter an experience where class becomes an issue. While Lerner was growing up her family did not mix with non Jews or Yiddish speaking Jews. Lerner goes onto say “My family it seemed mixed neither non Jews nor Yiddish speaking Jews (4).” Not being able to make friends hindered Lerner’s ability to make friends because her father would not allow her to be friends with non Jews or Jews, who kept a Kosher home and spoke Yiddish. Because of this Lerner was not able to practice social skills and it made it harder for her to make friends. Since she does not have any friends Lerner was seen as an outsider or lower class because her religion was different from most of the religions that were practiced in her community. One day Lerner brings home a B grade rather then the usual A and she gets scolded, while the other children get C’s and D’s. This shows class because Lerner’s family is the odd one out in this matter and so she must live up to higher standards then the other children. She is looked down upon by the non-Jews because she is Jewish and by the Yiddish speaking Jews because she does not speak Yiddish. She even says, “So we were the chosen people, intellectually superior, more disciplined, more conscious of the need to achieve. Excellence was the mark of the tribe and each of us had better live up to that standard (4)”. This shows class because if Lerner gets C’s and D’s just like the other children she will actually be below the social standard they are at because she is the odd one out because she is Jewish and she does not speak Yiddish. Through this incident Lerner learned that she must set her goals higher and work harder then everyone one else because she will always be looked down upon because she is seen as “The Other.” If she wants to become equal with everyone else she must do everything better. Even though Lerner and those that look down upon her are of the same class she is considered inferior because her religion is different which puts her in the lower class based on religion. And this is why she must work so hard. This influenced her life because she is now used to working extra hard and this set her on the right path so she could become successful in life climbs up the social latter, which she ultimately did.

Another incident in Lerner’s life that relates to my own was when Lerner was a young child and she was searching for friends. Once Lerner found one she was not allowed to play with this one particular girl because Lerner was of different beliefs than the other girl and her family. These beliefs deal with the fact that the girl was from a dedicated Jewish family and Lerner was from a family that was Jewish but was at a total disregard for their religion. Lerner says, “After a few questions my father elicited that fact from me that the girl’s father was the local kosher butcher, whereupon he categorically forbade me ever to visit that home again (4).” Lerner’s father did not allow her to go over to this girls’ house because her family were practicing Jews and he wanted to keep Lerner as far away from tho

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